I wish I could say I was taking another blog break to tackle some big exciting projects, or because I just needed a little time off, but my absence has been for much sadder reasons. In the early evening of Monday, March 18, my father suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke. If you've been following me for a while you know I'm very close to my parents so I'm heartbroken for him as well as my mom, who has been married to him for over 50 years. While we are incredibly grateful he is still alive (at the time of this writing – I now live in constant fear that something equally horrible or worse will happen), my family and I are devastated at the damage the stroke has done. My dad as I knew him isn't here right now, and it's uncertain whether he'll be coming back even remotely the same.
My parents live a few hours away, so juggling travel and a full-time job is making things difficult logistically. I have not spent one weekend at home in Baltimore since early March and since I do nearly all blog/social media stuff on the weekends, there's literally no time to dedicate to the Museum right now. Obviously that's the least of my worries, but I wanted to note the other contributing factors for having to abandon the blog at the moment.
I've always wanted the Museum to be a happy place, so discussing this depressing situation further doesn't seem appropriate. I'm logging off again now, but I hope to be back to Museum business in the next few months, or even weeks – if I can focus enough and manage to take pictures off-site, blogging may be a good distraction. I also know my dad, internet-illiterate though he is, would want me to keep going. (And of course I'm still buying makeup regularly! I'm at least able to concentrate for the few minutes it takes to place an order.) Fingers crossed intensive rehab will lead to significant improvement for my dad.
Thank you in advance for any well wishes and good thoughts/vibes, as we need all the ones we can get!